Roland XV88 88-Note 128-Voice Synthesizer Keyboard

It's hard to believe that Roland has never produced an 88-key performance synthesizer. Sure, there's the mighty A90 controller, but that's a "mother" board, and even with the added expander card, it's not a rig that a pro would take out as his only weapon.

So here comes the XV88 with 64 MB of internal sounds, including the entire load from the JV2080, a collection of waveforms from the JD990 Super JD synth, and a slew of totally new stereo sounds. 128-voice polyphony means massive laying and multi-timbral capability, along with amazing velocity switches and keyboard splits.

That keyboard, by the way, is 88 notes with precision hammer action. Also included is Roland's neat D-Beam controller that lets you modify parameters with a wave of your hand. Put those sounds you create through the studio quality reverb and effects unit derived from Roland's top-drawer SRV3030 effects box, and other Roland rigs.

If the big-time soundset that's standard isn't enough, you can pop in some of the new SRX Series expander boards that have 64 MB of waveforms on them, or any of the SR-JV80 Series of expander boards you wish. If you have a Roland XP80/60/30 or JV2080/1080/1010, your patches will load into this rig just fine.

This is a pro rig for a player who wants a lot of sound without carrying a lot of gear. The XV88 and an amp is all you need to play most gigs. (If you're lucky enough to have a gig with a great PA, you might not even need an amp!). Being an 88-note keyboard, this rig will… read more be a little bit heavier and bulkier than your garden-variety synth, but in the long run, it might be easier to carry this, than a smaller synth and racks of other junk. This box has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait.

Features
Ý 88-note precision hammer-action synthesizer with D-Beam controller and aftertouch

Ý New! 128-voice synth engine for extensive layering and multitimbral applications

Ý Massive 64MB internal wave memory includes incredible new sounds, plus all sounds from JV2080 and a collection of waveforms from the JD990 Super JD

Ý Stereo playback capability per tone for amazing velocity switches and keyboard splits

Ý Powerful Matrix Control gives sounds an unprecedented level of nuance

Ý Studio-quality reverb and effects derived from Roland SRV3030, V-Studios, and RSS technology

Ý "SRXpandable" via new SRX Series 64MB wave expansion boards

Ý Compatible with SRJV80 Series wave expansion boards and XP/JV Series Patches

Ý Advanced arpeggiator functions read less